Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Airport

Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport (IATA: KUA, ICAO: WMKD) is an airport that serves Kuantan, a city in the state of Pahang, Malaysia. The airport is located 15 km from the city. In 2009, the airport handled 226,912 passengers on 3,110 flights, though the airport is able to handle over one million passengers annually.[3] In 2008, Taiwan and Tourism Malaysia had co-operated that there were 23 charter flights directly from Taipei to Kuantan Airport, this condition had made Kuantan Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport the first airport in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia that received international flights. Passengers have to walk from the aircraft to the arrival hall.

"KUA" redirects here. For other uses, see KUA (disambiguation).

Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport

Lapangan Terbang Sultan Ahmad Shah
Summary
Airport typePublic/Military
OwnerGovernment of Malaysia
OperatorMalaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
ServesKuantan
LocationKuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
Time zoneMST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL55 ft / 17 m
Coordinates03°46′11″N 103°12′34″E
Maps
Pahang state in Malaysia
Pahang state in Malaysia
KUA /WMKD is located in Peninsular Malaysia
KUA /WMKD
KUA /WMKD
KUA /WMKD is located in Malaysia
KUA /WMKD
KUA /WMKD
KUA /WMKD (Malaysia)
KUA /WMKD is located in Southeast Asia
KUA /WMKD
KUA /WMKD
KUA /WMKD (Southeast Asia)
KUA /WMKD is located in Asia
KUA /WMKD
KUA /WMKD
KUA /WMKD (Asia)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
18/36 2,804 9,199 Asphalt
Statistics (2020)
Passenger71,877 (Decrease 84.3%)
Airfreight (tonnes)3.0 (Increase 7.9%)
Aircraft movements1,117 (Decrease 72.6%)
[1]
AIP Malaysia[2]

Co-located with the airport is RMAF Kuantan, housing 15 Squadron (BAE Hawk) and 17 Squadron (MiG-29) of the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
FireflyPenang (resumes 31 March 2024)[4]
Malaysia AirlinesKuala Lumpur–International
ScootSingapore[5]

Traffic and statistics
Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics
Year
Passengers
handled
Passenger
% change
Cargo
(tonnes)
Cargo
% change
Aircraft
movements
Aircraft
% change
2003351,179Steady64Steady4,054Steady
2004349,375Decrease0.564Steady4,088Increase 0.8
2005298,184Decrease14.675Increase17.23,757Decrease 8.1
2006273,005Decrease8.4109Increase45.32,973Decrease 20.9
2007262,486Decrease3.8103Decrease5.53,487Increase 17.3
2008259,529Decrease1.170Decrease32.03,551Increase 1.8
2009226,912Decrease12.670Steady3,110Decrease 12.4
2010220,878Decrease2.749Decrease30.02,802Decrease 9.9
2011248,846Increase12.738Decrease22.43,452Increase 23.2
2012280,074Increase12.557Increase50.53,613Increase 4.7
2013317,440Increase13.386Increase51.23,663Increase 1.4
2014314,130Decrease 1.046Decrease 46.93,911Increase 6.8
2015292,109Decrease 7.021Decrease 55.24,174Increase 6.7
2016247,757Decrease 15.215Decrease 27.33,493Decrease 16.3
2017241,314Decrease 2.625Increase 65.32,893Decrease 17.2
2018258,816Increase 7.313Decrease 47.43,013Increase 4.1
2019394,599Increase 52.52.8Decrease 78.44,082Increase 35.5
202071,877Decrease 84.33.0Increase 7.91,117Decrease 72.6
Source: Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad[6]
Busiest flights out of Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Airport by frequency as of September 2023
RankDestinationsFrequency (weekly)Airlines Note
1 Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur 17 MH
2 Singapore Singapore 3 TR

Passenger facilities

The airport has an outdoor car park, a taxi stand, several small shops, an arrival hall and a departure hall. The front part of the building housing the shops and the check in counters are not air conditioned.

Proposed Relocation

Proposals for relocating the airport has been recorded since 2015, with early suggestions for it to be either located nearer to the coast at Penor, or possibly around the same area of its original location. The operational capacity of the current airport is severely limited, mainly due to the nature of the airport being co-located with the RMAF Kuantan (which poses risks to national security) and also constraints of being surrounded by residential areas, both of which make it difficult to increase the frequency of flights and its capacity for expansion. Adding to this, the airport infrastructure is outdated, lacking any jet bridges and small, insufficient for larger crowds.

Following this, there are also demands to establish a regional hub for international flights in the East Coast Peninsular Region, as stated in the "Rancangan Fizikal Negara ke-4".[7]

The Menteri Besar of Pahang, Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail announced in July 2021 of the development of a RM 10.5 billion aerospace city, integrating a new international airport with air cargo and MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) capabilities. [8] This project is to be headed by Pahang Corporation Sdn Bhd (Pahang Corp) on an area measuring 5,024 ha in Chendor, adjacent to the ECRL railway station at Cherating, which is expected to be completed by early 2027. The development of this airport is expected to coincide with the establishment of Kuantan Port as an international logistics and manufacturing hub. This will also allow the return of full control of the air force base to the RMAF.

An MoU was signed between Pahang Corp, Gading Group Sdn Bhd and Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) in 12th of July 2022.[9] Construction is expected to commence in 2024 and the airport is expected to begin operations in 2026. [10]

See also

References
  1. Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport, Kuantan at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
  2. WMKD – KUANTAN AIRPORT Archived 27 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine at Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia
  3. Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport, Kuantan official page at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
  4. "Firefly Tentatively Resumes Penang – Kuantan In NS24". AeroRoutes. 3 May 2023.
  5. "Scoot to resume services to Pekanbaru and Kuantan". CAPA. 13 October 2022.
  6. "Malaysia Airports: Airports Statistics 2020" (PDF). malaysiaairports. 2 April 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  7. "Portal Rasmi PLANMalaysia - Rancangan Fizikal Negara". 103.42.207.1. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  8. "Pahang to develop Aerospace City in Gebeng - MB". MIDA | Malaysian Investment Development Authority. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  9. "Kuantan's new international airport to open in 2026". The Star. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  10. "New Airport In Kuantan, Malaysia, Expected To Break Ground In 2024 | Aviation Week Network". aviationweek.com. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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